Instrumentalizing Women’s Rights in the United Arab Emirates

Women in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have some of the world's highest levels of political representation and have experienced significant improvements in other key gender equality measures. This reflects growing patterns in parts of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). While many have associated constraints on the status of women in this region with the salience of religion and religiosity, such explanations shed little light on the changes we are seeing today in countries like the UAE. Drawing on thematic content analysis of press releases, this paper shows how the UAE is promoting women as economic and political actors as part of a strategy to diversify its economy and move away from reliance on hydrocarbons and as part of a virtue-signaling strategy in the service of gaining international favor. The strategy also aims to improve its rankings in international gender equality indices. The paper argues that these strategies are more than just window dressing; at the same time, they have become part of the new arsenal of governing strategies of autocrats to divert attention from their lack of political rights and civil liberties and enhance their legitimacy to remain in power.